vincent smith from montana state university told the new york times that similar to the current fiscal cliff, the 63-year-old farm law was left on the books as an incentive intended to scare lawmakers into action with the prospect of higher support prices for milk and other agricultural products. actually allowing it to go into effect could be disastrous. farmers would rush to sell dairy to the government at higher prices, limiting consumer supplies, leading to higher prices in stores and less milk for manufacturing products like butter, yogurt and cheese. which could have the makers of those products looking for cheaper alternatives like imported milk from new zealand. how did we get here? it's the same old story. republicans are refusing to act. the senate passed its own bipartisan ten-year farm bill in june. house republicans haven't even brought a competing proposal to the floor for a vote. i'm joined by david k. johnston, pulitzer award winning journalist and i assume lover of milk. if we go over the dairy cliff, would there be any doubt as to who is to blame? we don't have to fig